He who is forgiven much loves much

I'd like to sound completely original, but the truth is that one of my favorite stories in the gospels is one that Jesus himself said would be told whereever the gospel is preached... that is the story of "the woman with the alabaster box".

For those who may not know the story, it goes like this: Jesus was having dinner with a bunch of his disciples, when a woman-- who had quite a 'reputation' as a sinner-- came in with an alabaster box full of precious fragrant oils, broke the box open and poured the oils over Jesus' head, then as her tears fell on his feet she bent down and dried his feet with her hair.

In those days, one of the currencies of the day was precious oils. This alabaster box was basically the woman's life savings. It was everything she had.

So... here comes this woman, the biblical equivalent of a crack whore, who didn't have a lot but when she somehow heard that there was a hope of forgiveness for all those mistakes she had made, all the wrong choices, all the sin, all the junk... she came and brought everything she had with her. She recklessly poured out all she had in the hope that even she could find peace. She wept in His presence, then embarrassed by getting Him wet she used the only thing she had to dry Him.

All the people around-- the "good Christians"-- ridiculed her and tried to protect Jesus from "the likes of her". They just knew that if Jesus knew just what kind of person she was, He wouldn't want to have His name sullied by association with that type of person.

And in the middle of this situation, Jesus makes one of the most beautiful statements of grace and forgiveness found anywhere in scripture. A statement that actually brings tears to my eyes even now as I think of it.

Jesus looks at this woman, the one that everyone else viewed with disdain, and says:

" Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven--for she loved
much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."

But before making that statement, Jesus actually stops to tell a parable. Summarized, that parable asks who will love more, the person who owes $50 dollars and has the debt forgiven or the person who owes $500 and has the debt forgiven?

Jesus went on to say that this story would be told whereever the gospel is preached. Think of that... the only passage we find in scripture that we are specifically advised will be told everywhere the gospel goes is that of this woman. The one story that will be told everywhere is one the says where there is greater debt, there is greater forgivenness...

And the one story that goes out is that those who have to be forgiven more are not "lesser" Christians ... but actually greater in their love for our Savior.

He who is forgiven much loves much.

And can you imagine what it must have been like after? For days, everywhere Jesus went all those around Him would have smelled the beautiful aroma of those precious oils. The perfume of forgiveness surrounded Him...the fragrance of grace reaching out to all those still searching...

God doesn't have self-esteem issues

I love reading the Psalms, because they are so real.

You can really see what was going on in the heart of the various psalmists. You can see when they are angry... when they are sad... when they are hurt... as well as when they are "on top of the mountain". And the beautiful thing is that all of them are equally scripture. Not just the "Alleluia's" but also the "where the heck are you, God?" passages.

You see... God isn't like us. He doesn't have insecurities. He doesn't need to read self-help books on how to build one's self-esteem. Quite the opposite. He is secure enough that He doesn't get offended when we have doubts, fears, or concerns. He realizes that we, as humans, have weakness and faults. He knows that our failures don't change His faithfulness. And so, He is comfortable allowing us to see the reality that even the great "heroes of the faith" weren't perfect. In fact, most of them were quite far from perfection.

Kind of comforting, isn't it...

When I was young and first pursuing ministry, I liked to envision myself one day as a Jeremiah. Jeremiah was only about 16 when God called him as a prophet and he served an incredible role in bringing the nation of Israel to repentance... in calling them back to God. God's promise to Jeremiah, from the very beginning of his call, was:

"Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command
you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land--against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the Lord. Jeremiah 1:17-19

Wow! That just sounds so exciting when you're young! Then you look at Moses, getting in Pharoah's face demanding "Let my people go!". You see Elijah calling down fire from heaven. You think of Paul and Silas singing in the jail and an angel coming to open the door. You look at all of these great "heroes" (and they truly are role models) and you think "I'm going to be this great 'man of God' and just be so powerfully used by Him!!"

Today, however, I have a very different view.

Yes, I do seek to be used by God. Yes, I do want to be powerfully used by Him. But my view of what's important has changed so much. No longer is it that important to me if God ever does anything grand or dramatic. I love it when He touches people... when He uses me as a vessel of Him to see His life, love, and healing extended to others. But more and more, I look at King David.

Of all the great "heroes" only David was known as a man "after God's own heart". David was far from perfect. And scripture doesn't gloss over that fact. In fact, scripture shows very clearly David's sins-- lying, adultery, even murder. Scripture also shows how David suffered the consequences of his sin and how they cost him dearly.

But scripture also shows David being real with God. Of all the "heroes" in scripture, there is none that we see so transparent as David. In the psalms, we see him pour out his heart to God. We see him rejoice in triumphs... and we see him broken and humbled. We see his fears, his doubts, his questions... and we see his faith that God is faithful in spite of all those things.

An interesting fact is that during David's reign as king is the only time in the Old Testament when the Ark of the Covenant was housed so that it could be seen by all. At all the other times in scripture, it was hidden away-- either in the Tabernacle in the wilderness or in the Temple once it was built by Solomon. But during David's reign it was housed in a "sukkot"-- a temporary structure that was open on one side (very much like the creche's we see for nativity scenes at Christmas). But King David, in spite of all his faults, was allowed to bring the Ark, representing the presence of God, to the people.

God didn't feel the need to wait for a perfect man to reveal Himself in the Old Testament. He knew that His glory was sufficient in spite of man's weakness.

And today, it's the same.

God is secure enough in who He is to let His glory be known. He knows that we will make mistakes. He knows that we will fail. He knows that we will fall flat on our faces at times.

Yet, though we are faithless still He is faithful.